Factsheet Blended Learning
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Blended learning combines both face-to-face and online learning. When designing a blended learning course, it is best to start small by moving some activities online and changing part of the lecture. For every new online activity added, an existing activity should be removed to avoid overburdening students. Activities should build upon each other so that students can apply their new knowledge. Existing open educational resources should be utilized before creating new materials. Lectures can be used for interaction rather than presentations to take advantage of blended learning. Students must be given a clear outline of all course activities and expectations.
Factsheet Blended Learning
- 1. Blended Learning Design principals for Blended Learning Blended Learning is a form of education in which students learn through a combination of face-to- face and online education. Online technologies make it possible to have more interaction during the lecture time. So move the presentations out of the lecture and start interacting! Start small If you want to change your course into a blended course, start small. Move a couple of activities from your lecture to the internet (by using videos for example), and change a part of your lecture. Changing your course step by step is more convenient and doable than changing the whole course at once. Something in, something out It’s very tempting to let your students watch a lecture, let them read a couple of articles and let them make a quiz before your lecture. Keep in mind that students only have a certain amount of time for your course. So, for every new activity, an existing activity must go. Sequence activities Make sure that activities follow upon each other. When your students watched a video, you don’t need to give a lecture on the same topic. Think about other activities where students can apply the new knowledge. Let them for example participate in a discussion or use peer instruction with clickers. Use the existing There are a lot of educational materials available on the internet. Before you create your own video or other material search on YouTube or use Open Educational Recourses. This can save you a lot of time! Change the lectures One of the advantages of Blended Learning is that you can use your lecture time in another way. In stead of presenting you can interact with your students. Keep in mind that you probably need to develop new skills as a teacher (for example: more coaching instead of lecturing). Be crystal clear It’s very important for students that they know what to expect. Be crystal clear on what they need to do and when. Give an outline of your course with all the activities they need to do. Discuss this outline in the first lecture and place it on Blackboard.
- 2. Examples Pitfalls Contact Read article Explain concepts Case study Case study Case study Answer questions Watch video Online F2F Read article Online quiz In-depth lecture Peer instruction Watch video Exercise Check each others exercises Online F2F In this example, the students prepare the lecture at home. They read articles, watch videos and make exercises and quizzes. The lecture time is used to explain difficult concepts and to apply and test the knowledge of the students. In this example, students work on a case study. The first meeting is used to explain the specifics of the case study. After that, students work in groups and use articles and videos for their information. The face-2-face meetings are used to answer questions and to explain difficult concepts. Lectures don’t sell Blended Learning Some students may resist the implementation of Blended Learning. Students hold on to their habits and don’t want to change. It’s important to be as transparent as possible about the motivation behind the change as well as the benefits. Also make sure that students understand the new structure and systems. They need to know when they need to do what. Students don’t show up for lectures When all the lectures are moved online, it can be tempting for students to skip class. Especially when students don’t see the added value in the lectures. Make sure that the class time is engaging and interactive. This can be done using peer instruction, team based learning, explaining difficult concepts & guest lectures. Students don’t complete the out of class work Some teachers experience that students don’t complete the assigned work. It’s important that studentsunderstandthebenefitsofBlendedLearning. You can use online quizzes to encourage students to watch videos or read the paper. Students can also make a summary, write down key messages, think of questions and make assignments based on the online materials. Lectures are unable to blend large lectures When a course has 300 students it can be harder to blend your course successfully. It’s harder to have an interactive face-2-face session with 300 students. You can use Teacher Assistants and break your audience into smaller groups. Also engaging activities as peer instruction and team based learning can be used during the lecture time. Wiebe Dijkstra TU Delft w.p.dijkstra@tudelft.nl